Interpretation Of Chinese Canadians' Trauma In The Jade Peony

Wayson Choy is an outstanding novelist at the Chinese Canadian Literature Forum.The traumatic description of Chinese Canadians is an important element in his novels.Although the social and historical environment at that time caused tremendous psychological trauma to Chinese Canadians,they did not degenerate,but chose to struggle hard to overcome difficulties.In the process of trying to integrate into the Canada mainstream society,not only the trauma has been recovered,but also shows the new aspect of Chinese Canadians.Based on the trauma theory put forward by Sigmund Freud,Judith Herman,Caroline Garland and Cathy Caruth,this thesis interprets the trauma and recovery process of Chinese Canadians in the novel,subverts the stereotype of Chinese Canadians in the white mainstream society and reshapes the new images of them.Firstly,this thesis elaborates the consequences and manifestations of Chinese Canadians' psychological trauma,such as isolation,identity confusion and degeneration.Secondly,it analyses the causes of psychological trauma of Chinese Canadians from Three aspects,such as,historical background,social environment and family.Finally,this thesis discusses the ways of Chinese Canadians traumatic recovery and their new images in the process of traumatic rehabilitation.Through hard entrepreneurship and identity reconstruction,they finally get out of the trauma and realize that only by self-reliance,identification with their ethnic and cultural identity,and learning to be inclusive,can they be accepted and recognized by the mainstream society.The diligent,tolerant,firm andoptimistic qualities of Chinese Canadians in the process of recovery have subverted the stereotypes of the white mainstream society towards them,highlighting and reshaping the positive image of them.Using trauma theory to analyze the Chinese Canadians' trauma and recovery in The Jade Peony provides a new perspective for readers to understand the work.The analysis of the work from four aspects: the traumatic experience of Chinese Canadians,the stress reaction after trauma,the main ways to recover the trauma and the reshaping of the positive image of Chinese Canadians will help us to deeply understand the psychological course of the characters in the work,and have a deeper understanding of the inner world of the characters and to be more comprehensive understanding of Chinese Canadians groups.